Feel free to post during the month – and join us on December 15 at 10:30 for our discussion.

Our subject for December is food – and while we had a lot of people who thought that was a limiting subject – “I don’t want to read recipes” – food is a major factor of our culture and all others.  Here is a listing of just a few of the titles that would fit nicely into this category:

My Life in France – Julia Child

Julie and Julia – Julie Powell

Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain

   Medium Raw – Anthony Bourdain

Alice Waters and Chez Panisse – Thomas McNamee

Tender at the Bone: Ruth Reichl

   Comfort Me with Apples – Ruth Reichl

The Art of Eating – M. F. K. Fisher

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food – Judith Jones

Life is Meals – A Food Lover’s Book of Days – James and Kay Salter

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver

The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan

Botany of Desire – Michael Pollan

Best Food Writing 2012 – Holly Hughes

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook – Deb Perelman

Bitter Greens – Anthony Di Renzo

The Men’s Health Big Book of Food and Nutrition – Joel Weber

The Essential Pepin – Jacques Pepin

In Nonna’s Kitchen – Carol Field

Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine – Joseph E. Dabney

The Recipe Club – Andrea Israel, Nancy Garfinkel

Kitchen Chinese – Ann Mah

The Body in the Vestibule – Katherine Hall Page

Growing Your Own food – Monte Burch

The Farmer’s Wife Guide to Growing a Great Garden and Eating from it Too – Barbara Doyen

The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking – Joseph E. Dabney

The Art of Simple Food – Alice Waters

Lost Arts: A Celebration of Culinary Traditions – Lynn Alley

Cooking for Jewish New Year – Jayne Cohen

Christmas in the Kitchen – Southern Living Magazine

Eat pray love – Elizabeth Gilbert

Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer

Eating: A memoir – Jason Epstein

The American Way of Eating – Tracie McMillan

Alice, Let’s Eat – Calvin Trillin

The Man Who Couldn’t Eat – Jon Reiner

Words to Eat by: Five foods and the Culinary History of the English Language – Ina Lipkowitz

The Italian Summer: Golf, Food, and Family at Lake Como – Roland Merullo

Under the Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes

Food Journeys of a Lifetime – National Geographic

The Food Bridge to Everywhere – Lenny Karpman

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew – Peter Mayle

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes – Elizabeth Bard

We define the year ending in June – but for those who like to read ahead – here are the subjects coming up

January – The long winter nights lend themselves to introspective reading.  Choose a classic – any classic.

February – Valentine’s Day means we need to read a romance.  Do you like yours subtle or steamy?

March – It’s OSCAR time.  Choose a book that’s been made into a movie and then – perhaps – watch the movie and decide if they did it right.

April – April is poetry month.  Choose a favorite poet, a collection of poetry or whatever brings poetry to your mind.

May – Spring is here and we need to appreciate nature.  What kind of book does that for you?  A gardening book, a novel, a book about really cute animals?

June – Ends our first challenge.   Time to think about summer travel – actual or armchair.  Choose a book that takes you away and join us for a light lunch to celebrate your achievement.

Because things get lost in the comments as we move on, thought I would add a new subject so we can discuss all the books we are reading in the history (broadly defined) category.